The Sholazar Pillars
by Alienea
Summary: A druid, priest and mage go to investigate the sabotage of the LifeBlood Pillar and to prevent that from happening to any other pillars. Will they find more than they bargained for? Read and Review, Please!
1. Chapter 1

Obviously, (but I'm going to say it anyways) I don't own World of Warcraft. I don't own any of their characters. I don't own any of their zones. But if I keep on wishing, maybe it'll happen!

* * *

Alienea sighed and drummed her fingers on the table. "I'm sorry, Mr... Grievous? But I'm not a tank anymore. It wasn't very fun. I heal now." She yawned. "I can still tank, but you'd have to give me a pretty good reason to do so." The night elf priest across from her sighed. He had a bluish-purple skin, and his white hair was tied back behind his head.

"Well, Miss, to tell the truth, no other tank wants to bother with Sholazar. After all, they all say, the Lich King is in Icecrown, not Sholazar." He rolled his eyes shrugged. "There are cultist activities there. They plan to destroy the pillars, from what the wreckage of the Lifeblood Pillar can tell us." He made a sweeping gesture and sighed. "Honestly, Miss. Alienea, when the pillar was broken, scourge came into Sholazar. Obviously, it was connected. So if the other pillars are destroyed, the Frenzyheart and the Oracles will have more to worry about than their war. I figured that as a druid, you would also want to protect nature." He said all this with the air of one who was laying all his cards on the table. Alienea bit her lip and looked down.

"Well... let me think about it. I'll get back to you within a few days." She stood up, and Grievous did the same.

"Thank you, ma'am. I'll look forward to hearing from you." He exited the room, a small private room connected to the rest of the inn. As he walked out, Alienea got up and looked around. She waited a minute before exiting and going up to the bar.

"Honeymint tea, please, Ajay." Ajay Green, innkeeper in the sewers of Dalaran, looked up and nodded as Alienea plunked a gold and a few silver on the bar. He poured her a cup of tea and quickly locked the gold up in his lockbox. "Thanks, honey." She wandered off towards the top, sipping her tea._'This could be interesting... but.. tanking? Getting hit by enemies is not really my idea of fun... Still... Sholazar. I've always wanted to go there.'_ Alienea sighed and nursed her tea cup, heading slowly in the direction of home. She lived above the herbalists, and the rent wasn't that bad. Suddenly, she tripped. "Gack!" She winced. "Ow..." She felt as though she had gotten several scrapes. A voice answered, in tones of contrition.

"Oh, so sorry Miss!" Alienea dragged herself to her knees, sighing at the spilled tea and looked around, only to see a small gnome with red hair that looked although someone had tried to comb it but done a bad job.

"It's... It's no problem, sir. It happens to me all the time." She smiled shakily and bowed before walking on.

She woke up suddenly, panting, with ears shifted to her cat form, although the rest of her was still a Night Elf. "Just a dream... Just a dream..." She shook her head and got out of bed, walking over to the mirror. She was a deep purple skin color, with dark blue hair held back by a headband. She wasn't that shapely, but she was a woman. As she looked herself over in the mirror, she spotted the cat ears and shifted them back before falling back on the bed. "Just... a dream..." She repeated that a few more times before falling back onto her bed and falling asleep.

Grievous,

I will help you in your Sholazar endeavors. I'll meet you at the Herbalists' Shop on Friday, 11am. Send a letter back if this time is not convenient.

-Alienea

Alienea,

That's fine. Thank you for choosing to help me. I will bring a mage to teleport us around and get us food and water.

-Grievous


	2. Chapter 2: They're Off!

I don't own blizzard, I don't own world of warcraft, I don't anything that belongs to them, and I don't own lord of the Rings.

* * *

Alienea checked her pack one last time. Mana and health potions... check. Flasks of rage and of the frost wyrm... Check. Frostweave bandages... check. Water and rations... clothing... her restoration gear, in case it was needed. Check, check, and check. Wearing her tanking gear... check. Rent paid up for the next 6 months... check. '_I've brought my pets to Breani...I've got my drake waiting at the landing. I've done everything, no use in putting it off.' _Sighing, Alienea shouldered her pack and looked out the window. Seeing no one there, she morphed into a cat. Her pack was designed for a druid's shapeshifting, and the only form it couldn't accommodate was aquatic. Checking outside again, she shrugged and jumped out the window, kitty-chuckling.

"Gah!" Oops. She'd just missed the priest, who had chosen this moment to exit the shop and look around. She morphed back to a Night Elf and shrugged.

"Sorry, Grievous. Anyways.. here I am. As soon as you're ready to go, I'm ready." Grievous nodded and darted back into the shop, bringing out a pack much bigger than hers. "Geez, man, what do you have in there?"

"Around 100 bandages, a mix of mana and health potions... some special food to let me track humanoids and beasts... different sets of gear." He shrugged and began to march in the direction of Krasus' Landing. "The mage I convinced is at the landing."

"Well," said Alienea, as she walked alongside Grievous with much less effort, "I've got my drake there, so it's all good. And man, I've got potions, flasks, my other set of gear, bandages, water, and food. And Elune, mine doesn't weigh nearly as much as yours!" Grievous just grunted and sighed.

"Maybe you're right, but still. We might need all of this, and I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it!" They reached the landing, and Grievous put his pack down with a sigh.

"At least think of your mount, man." Alienea said that, and then whistled a peculiar tune. A Dee-oo-oo-oo. (think Zelda: Twilight Princess and the bird call.) Grievous stared at her in bewilderment and then gulped as he saw a blue drake, with strange green and brown markings painted on its legs fly towards them.

"Blue... drake. Blue drake!" His tone was a bit panicked, which was understandable because the drakes were at war with magic users. Alienea didn't notice, however, and instead was jumping and waving her arms around. "Firagosa, over here!" Grievous made a shushing noise at her, but she ignored him as the drake, Firagosa, bowled her over and nudged her.

"Fira, off!" Alienea laughed and pushed Firagosa off of her. "Don't worry, Grievous. Fira's a blue drake that doesn't believe in what Malygos says. I saved her in the Occulus. Firagosa looked over at Grievous and smiled.

"Morrrtal, I will not hurt you. I helllp herr becausssse sssshe resscued me." Alienea rolled her eyes.

"I think you just get bored. And besides, you're safer with me, eh?" At this point, the gnome that Alienea had tripped over came up, plus a pack with a rug sticking out of it.

"Grievous, I hope you're not seriously going to pass up having a blue drake on our side?" Grievous glanced over at the gnome and shook his head.

"No.. no, Akomar, I won't. Oh, uh, Alienea, this is Akomar, the mage who will be helping us. Akomar, this is Alienea, our druid tank, and her.. um.. friend, Firagosa." Alienea laughed and held out her hand to Akomar.

"We've met, Grievous. He tripped me accidentally, although to be fair I wasn't looking where I was going." Akomar winced slightly at the mention of that.

"I.. I am sorry about that. But, well, thank you for agreeing to help us." He unrolled the rug as he said this. "Hrm, what was it again... ah! 10326783 Akomar. Rise!" The carpet glowed briefly and then rose up into the air.

"Flying carpet? Interesting. I thought about being a tailor, but..." She shrugged. "I'm an herbalist instead, and an alchemist." Akomar nodded and threw his pack onto the carpet before clambering on.

"Interesting. Logical, also. Well, all we all ready to go?" He threw a pointed glance at Grievous, who sighed and summoned his own mount, a white hippogryph.

"Wow. You want a hippogryph to carry that pack?" Alienea chuckled and shrugged as Grievous cast some sort of spell on the pack. He tied it to the hippogryph and let go of it in mid-air, where, surprisingly, it hovered. Alienea stopped laughing and examined it as she tied her own pack to Firagosa. "Hrm, levitate? If I'd only remembered... Could've let Fira stay at home. Ah well, done is done, and I'd rather not have the spell wear out while I was in flight." She shrugged and got on. "Well, I'm ready now." Grievous nodded, as did Akomar.

"We've wasted enough time, let's get going!" Grievous spurred his mount into the air, and Akomar began to manipulate the carpet. Firagosa followed Grievous' hippogryph, and they were off. Once they had gotten far away enough from the air traffic of Dalaran, and could just point their mounts in a direction without worrying about crashing into someone, Akomar turned slightly and tried to start up a conversation.

"So, Alienea, why aren't you just flying this a bird? Have you not gotten to that point in your training yet, or would you not be fast enough? Or is it you have problems with that form or--" Alienea interrupted him before he could continue on a long tangent.

"No-no-no, it's just.. it's tiring, especially with a pack. It's work, like any other form." Akomar blinked and nodded.

"As simple as that? Interesting." Grievous turned his head and called back,

"Well, you overcomplicate things! Elune, remember when all we had to do was say 'friend' in darnassian and we could've gotten in? But nooo, you had to analyze the runes, look in your book of ancient riddles..." He shook his head and turned back to the front. "Uh-oh.. looks like the Horde is making an attempt to reclaim Wintergrasp... fly high!" Firagosa just snorted and continued on as Akomar and Grievous climbed.

"No one issss ssstupid enough to sssshhoot a blue drrrrrake..." She rolled her eyes and flew a bit upwards.

"Fira! RISE! It's DANGEROUS, Fira! You will climb right now or I will jump!" Fira sighed at that and began to moce upwards when a shot rang out, and a bullet pierced her wing.

"Ssssssorrrrryyy... 'Lien...." Fira began to plummet towards the ground, towards 2 orc hunters who were grinning at their prey. Alienea groaned when she saw that and jumped off Fira, towards the hunters. At the last second, she turned into a bear, which made one of the hunters face's turn from a happy 'I'm about about to make a lot of money face' to an 'OH SH*T RUNRUNRUN!' face. But he didn't run fast enough, and ended up squashed under a big, annoyed, bear. Firagosa whumped onto the ground, groaning. The orc shouted something in orcish and began to run away, screaming. Alienea growled and lumbered after him.

'_Oh no, not this time, orc!' _She shifted into a cat and pounced on him, swiftly biting out his throat. '_Idiot!'_ She spat out the blood and took a bite of snow to wash the taste out of her mouth before shifting back. "Pleg! Orc blood..." She ran back over to Firagosa as Grievous and Akomar descended with the help of Akomar's slowfall. "Fira.... You can't come now. I'm not set up to heal, I'm set up to fight! But still..." She concentrated and green glow began to play about her hands, which she placed on Fira's wing. "There. You should be able to fly, but don't, and I repeat this again, _**Don't**_ do anything stupid! You're not coming along now." She stood up and drew a dagger out of her armor, which she used to slice the ropes holding her pack in place.

"Bad luck. It would've been nice to have any type of drake with us." Akomar stated this matter-of-factly, shrugging as his carpet... fell on his head. "Gack! Stupid carpet.... 10326783 Akomar, Rise and move 5 paces to the left! " the carpet slowly rose and Akomar scrambled out from under it. "Well.. Continue."

"Sssorry, 'Lien... I wasss..." Fira sighed and rolled her eyes, "ssstupid. You may laugh." Alienea did indeed chuckle a bit, but then Grievous interjected

"Well, let's be off!" He cast levitate on Alienea's pack, and refreshed it on his own. "We should hurry, after all." Alienea sighed and nodded.

"Well, off you go, Fira. Get well soon, mkay?" Fira nodded and slowly flew off.


	3. Chapter 3: A Problem

I don't own World of Warcraft, I don't own their characters, I don't own their zones. And no amount of dreaming will make it happen. Probably.

Also, Note: I've made Sholazar like it's more jungle-y. I know they can't put that many trees close together, but I'm setting it like a rainforest, with roads and settlements cleared.

* * *

Grievous, Akomar, and Alienea circled above the Life Pillar, looking for a safe place to land.

"Maybe... No, never mind, rock monsters."

"Over there? No...scourge."

"Squawk."

Grievous looked over at Alienea. "What? Never mind, let's just go find River's Heart, we obviously aren't going to be able to land anywhere over here. We'll have to work our way in." He sighed and reined his mount towards the center of Sholazar. Akomar shrugged and manipulated his carpet that way, as Alienea brought up the rear in bird form. They flew over the rivers, seeing Oracles and Frenzyheart in the bushes, along with indigenous life. Occasionally a crocolisk would try and eat Alienea, but she just flew out of reach. When they finally reached River's Heart, though...

" …" A scene of devastation reached their eyes. The gnome and two humans who would normally have been there were still there- But so were 3 other …things. Alienea's eyes widened and she morphed out of bird form onto Akomar's carpet. The carpet wobbled at the extra weight, but it held.

"Scourge. Plan of action? Because I think they've spotted us, guys!" She pointed down at 2 of the scourge who looked sickeningly like humans. They moaned and began to move towards the group , trying to jump into the air to reach them. "We need to MOVE!" Grievous wasn't answering, and looked sick, so Alienea turned to Akomar. "Akomar! We need to get this carpet and Grievous moving!"

Akomar shook himself out of a daze and nodded. "You.. You grab the reins and guide his hippogryph, I'll lead." He turned his carpet around as Alienea morphed into a bird again and grabbed the hippogryph's reins. "Alright, move out!" The began to speed away from River's Heart, with the scourge moaning behind them. Once they were out of sight, Grievous shook his shock off and grabbed the reins back.

"Raa-Awk!" Alienea squawked in surprise, tumbling in the air before recovering. Grievous just kept on going, seemingly oblivious. Akomar sighed, and they spent the rest of the trip towards Nesingwary's Camp in silence.

"Heyla, boss! 2 approaching by sky!" Nesingwary came out of his tent and glared up into the sky.

"Ah, it's only a Night Elf and a Gnome, Jerestin!" Grievous and Akomar descended, followed by Alienea, who morphed back 2 feet above the ground. "Jerestin! Report animals next time!" A sigh was heard and a bush stood up. Once that had happened, you could see it was actually a dwarf in a hole with a bunch of shrubbery on his helmet.

"Sorry, boss." He took off his helmet and scratched his head. "I'm just getting tired! Where's my relief?"

"If your relief went to River's Heart, dwarf, they're probably dead." Grievous spoke for the first time since he had seen the undead and his voice was very harsh. "We were just there. The scourge got in, somehow. I wouldn't bet on anyone within the Life Pillar's range between those rivers to be safe." He broke off and muttered "Elune... I thought we had more time." Akomar stepped forward, towards Nesingwary.

"Excuse me, Sir, but do you know anything about cultist activities around the pillars? We believe they are vital to the community-- that is, to the safety of everyone in Sholazar! You see, the scourge didn't even gain one footstep in Sholazar before the Life Pillar blew up!" Nesingwary sighed, and nodded.

"Ay. We've been having having some trouble with cultists an' the like. I personally know of an encampment over by that, uh, yellow pillar that is digging into it, and Cultist-looking people 'ave been coming in from the north. I don't know anymore, lad. We've 'eard some bad things… And seen. At night, sometimes you hear things around the edge of the light, and everyone else is out at the northern camp... or they were at River's Heart."

"Well, we really should've expected this. Grievous, if you want to be full of self pity, do it when we don't have to make this place defensible! Go... gather some deadwood. Akomar, can you.. I don't know, can you..help whatshisname the sentry? He looks really tired. I'll kill some animal or another for food." Akomar and Grievous looked at her strangely, but Grievous spoke up first.

"Um... druid... killing? And yes'm..." Alienea rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Survival comes before qualms. Every---most druids understand that." She morphed into a cat and bounded off into the jungle.

"Wait ma'am! Don't---She's gone." Nesingwary sighed and shrugged. "She'll hold her own, probably. There's just creatures out there." Grievous and Akomar looked at each other and decided not to ask. Akomar went to stand by Jerestin, taking his helmet and hopping into the hole. Jerestin looked grateful and plopped down into his tent. Grievous carefully went into the edges of the jungle around them, looking for branches and sticks.

AoooGoooA

As the sun began to set, Alienea slunk back into camp, dragging a crocolisk behind her. She had a few scratches, but only one was still openly bleeding. She left it in the center and morphed back, gagging. "Ugh! Crocolisk hide! Please tell me there's a river near here!" Nesingwary nodded and pointed south.

"It's not that far from 'ere, lass. You just went the wrong direction to find it." She nodded her thanks and grabbed a few water skins before walking back into the jungle.

"Well, she's made herself quite at home." Grievous remarked. He was sitting by the fire Akomar had lit, sharpening big sticks. "Then again, she's a druid. I'm glad I got her to sign on… I'd forgotten what nature can be like, so long in the city." Akomar chuckled and nodded.

"Well, bring her into an infested Gnomergan or the metal Ironforge, and I bet you'd she react a lot differently. Druids!" They all chuckled at that and moved around the fire, glancing around the camp. "Grievous, pass me a stick.. I'll help sharpen it." Grievous looked over and saw a bit of worry on Akomar's face. He nodded and passed him a few of the smaller ones, and handed a few over to Nesingwary when he saw the dwarf's hand outstretched. They all jolted when a scraping sound was heard in the bushes, but relaxed when they heard Alienea's voice call out.

"Hey! You guys! I'm back with the water skins!" She slowly walked into sight, bearing 4 full water skins. "These things get heavy, Nesingwary. Are they enchanted to hold more than it looks like they should?" Nesingwary nodded and took 2 of them from Alienea.

"Ay, lass. About double again. But still, I'll come with you in the morning to fill the rest of them up. Now I know how to cook crocolisk, but only scorched or burnt. I wager you'll know better?" She rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Males! Of course I can cook, but maybe you should learn _**also?**_" The 'Males!' cringed and looked away. "Not tonight, but when we get back to Dalaran or a relatively safe town, I"m teaching you the basics. You don't want to starve for lack of food you can eat." Rant finished, she reached into her pack and pulled out a plain dagger. "Well, I wasn't counting on using this, but thank Elune I brought it." She began to skin the crocolisk, saving the hide and claws. "If we have to, we can use the hide for protection and the claws as weapons." Nesingwary nodded in admiration, and Akomar and Grievous just bent over their sticks. After the crocolisk was skinned, Alienea appropriated a few sticks and carved off slices of meat, which she stuck on them and hung over the fire. "I need a pot and veggies or fruit if you want any better than a nicely roasted crocolisk. Grievous got up and went to his pack.

"Well, I burdened this heavy pack with a pot and dried food, so let me see..." Alienea looked up and snapped,

"Nothing dried! We want to save our food! Take the fresh first!" Grievous shrugged and dug out fresh veggies. He handed these to Alienea, who filled the pot halfway with water and began chopping the vegtables and meat, tossing them into the pot.

Akomar looked around and shuddered. "I don't like the feel of this. It feels... as though something is watching us." Jerestin tumbled out of his tent when Akomar said that and nodded at him.

"Astute observation. I've been noticing quite a few things out there at night. Probably just jungle beasts—but very creepy." He shuddered and picked up a few of the sticks. "Making this place defensible? Good idea. I'll start lining the camp." He grabbed a few more and wandered off to the edges of the fire's light and began to dig holes. Grievous sighed and put down the stick he was sharpening. It looked as though he was falling asleep.

"Any word on that stew, Alienea?" She glanced up and shrugged.

"If I took the meat and roasted it I could have it done in.. a slice of a sundial. But it wouldn't last as long, and we couldn't hang it in the cold river to keep it fresh as effectively." Akomar threw up his hands in exasperation.

"Well we're hungry NOW! We can worry about then then!" Alienea sighed and compromised, moving the pot so it would take more heat. "Right. Now, let's set up a watch." Jerestin looked up from setting sticks and called back to them:

"I'll take first! I just got meself a good bit 'o sleep!" Akomar nodded at him and nudged Grievous. "Grievous, come on. Wait for the stew before you sleep." Grievous jolted awake and nodded.

"Right... Right...." He picked up the sticks and sharpened more. By now, a ¼th of the camp was defended like that. Akomar yawned, at which Grievous said, "There's a tent or two in my pack. Magic. Just press the button and they'll set themselves up. Akomar nodded sleepily and walked over to Grievous's bag, digging out a tent and setting it up. He took his own sleeping roll and put it in the tent before going back and setting up Grievous's tent and sleeping roll. "Hey, Alienea, I bet my pack seems smarter now. She glanced over and nodded.

"Anything would make it smarter. But I don't need a pot as a druid-- cat or bear form, even bird form, can eat raw meat. As for a tent, I can sleep in a form and be quite comfy. But hey, with levitate, why not pack more comforts? I can't say I grudge you. Here, stew's up. Bring out your bowls, Nesingwary." Nesingwary scrambled into his tent and brought out dented metal bowls and spoons.

"Here, lads. And lass. Bit dented, but serviceable, eh?" He passed them out to everyone and dragged Jerestin away from his poles, plopping him down on the ground before filling a bowl with soup and shoving it at him. "Lad, you do to much and don't get enough sleep and food. Rest! Eat!" Grievous, Akomar, and Alienea just dipped their bowls into the stew and brought them up full. Nesingwary followed suit, and they all sat in silence, spooning up the stew. When they were finished, Grievous, Akomar, and Nesingwary got into their tents, and. Alienea cleaned up and folded up and put the stuff away before morphing into a cat and sleeping by the fire. Jerestin took up watch, and they settled in for the night.


	4. Chapter 4: A New Morn

AN: I don't own anything associated with Blizzard, and I don't own World of Warcraft. I also do not own the idea that kittens is the second-worst swearword in the Night Elf repertoire, with carpet being the worst. Got it? Good!

Also, I'm sorry for taking so long to update, but I fell off a set of bleachers and knocked myself on the head. So then I got a medium concussion, which really hurt, and I spent most of the summer recovering from it. And then, are you ready? My Great-Aunt died. SO, between all that, my brain is just now back to full speed and I'll start updating again now, hooray! You get a super-long chapter for your wonderful patience!

AoooooGoooooA

_Snap!_

Alienea looked carefully around and prowled around the camp's perimeter. Only regular jungle animals had intruded upon her hearing, which was quite sharp as she had morphed into a large, dark black panther. But it was almost dawn, and other things might be waking up. "Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..." Faint snaps and rustles were heard as whatever it was scuttled off into the tree cover. Alienea padded back into the center of the camp and morphed back. "Better bring the fire back up and warm up that stew..." She slowly coaxed the fire back to life, and moved the stew pot onto part of it before morphing into a cat again to continue patrolling.

AoooooGoooooA

Sounds of waking were emerging from Nesingwary's tent, but in Grievous's and Akomar's tents there was only snoring. Nesingwary crawled out of his tent, yawned and looked bleary-eyed at the stew pot that had gotten warmed up. "Lass, you can stop patrolling now.."

"Rrrrww." Alienea leaped back into the camp's center and morphed back. She grabbed a bowl and spoon from where she had put them away and helped herself to some of the stew. "The stew should be warm by now. Help yourself, but I'm catching a nap after I eat." She quickly began to spoon the stew into her mouth and gulp it down. "I didn't hear anything out of place last night, but what about you?" Nesingwary slowly dipped himself a bowl full of stew and began to eat thoughtfully.

"Well, lass, I don't think I heard anything our of normal. It may be what I didn't hear. See, around halfway through my watch, this jungle went silent." Alienea looked up and nodded, stew half-done.

"Yes… this place should never really be silent." And indeed, chirping and rustling could be heard all around them. She gestured towards Grievous's and Akomar's tents. "Think they'll wake up before noon?" Nesingwary rubbed his beard and shook his head.

"Unlikely. Pah! City folk." He finished up his stew and put it by the fire. "Let's get the water skins filled. If they _do_ wake up while we're gone, they can panic all they want. We need the water." He grabbed the one they had used last night and 2 more, while Alienea trailed after him after grabbed 3 more. "Get these 5 filled, and we'll have a good 8 full water skins. 5 of us, though.. we might want to fill a pot or so if things get bad." Alienea nodded again and glanced around the jungle.

"Tickbird...tickbird... blackshadowything...tickbird... black…shadowy…thing! TO THE RIVER!" She pushed Nesingwary in front of her and ran towards the river, with a black shadow following them.

"But lass-the-camp!"

"Nononono, we need to fill up on water first and get into a clear, defendable space, and we're closer to-pant- the river!"

"But-fine, lass." They finally burst into the clear area around the river before the shadow creature caught up with them. It stalked out of the forest, and turned into a demonic green eye.

"Warlock tool... um,um,um, some sort of Eye." Nesingwary growled grabbed a stick from the ground.

"Whatever it is, a few good whacks'll take it out." He swiftly stepped forward and threw the stick at the Eye.. only to have it pass right through. "What in tarnation?" Alienea shrugged and began to fill up the water skins.

"C'mon. If we can't hurt it, then fill up the water skins and get back to camp. I'll bet you that Grievous will be able to do something to it." Nesingwary sighed and carefully began to fill up his load of waterskins, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds. Once they'd filled up the water skins, they carefully scooted around the Eye and ran back to the camp, glancing over their shoulders at the Eye which continued to follow them. They put the water skins down in the center of camp and sat, watching the Eye watching them. "I'm waking up Grievous. And Akomar." Alienea said. She got up and walked over to Grievous's and Akomar's tents and shook the tents hard. "WAKE UP! It's PAST SEVEN A-M! WAKEY-WAKEY!" Groaning sounds were heard in both tents, and Akomar slowly crawled out of his, blinking in the sunlight.

"S'not.. a decent hour to aw" he yawned "ack...whatdoyouwant?" Alienea rolled her eyes and dragged Akomar over to the stew pot and fire which was down to faintly burning coals.

"See over there?" She pointed at the Eye. "Get rid of it and you can have breakfast. Or at least try to get rid of it." Akomar sighed and launched an icebolt at it which it dodged.

"No. I can't get rid of it. Go ask Grievous." Akomar grabbed a bowl and spoon and took his portion of the remaining stew."

"I said... you.. that wasn't... ugh. Not worth it." Alienea walked over to Grievous's tent and shook it again, eliciting more groans from the tent. "GRIEVOUS! WARLOCK CONJURED THING OUT HERE! GET UP ALREADY!"

"Give me a second! I can't find my-ah! There's my wand!" Grievous walked out of his tent and looked at the Eye. "Eye of Kilrogg, basic warlock spell. Give me my breakfast and I"ll dispel it." Alienea shook her head.

"Get rid of it now, and you can have breakfast. We don't want it hanging around longer than it has to." Grievous grumbled.

"Fine." Grievous muttered some darnassian under his breath and then shot a bolt of light at it, which hit the Eye. "Simple dispel, like I said." Alienea rolled her eyes and handed him a bowl and spoon.

"The stew's in the pot. You're the last up, so you get whatever's left." Grievous sighed and poured the last of the soup into his bowl and began eating. "Let's check out that, um, blue pillar.. skytouched? Pillar today." Nesingwary shook his head and sighed.

"Not if you want to come back to this camp, lad. I want a more defensible camp before having people leave." Alienea looked up from scratching in the dirt, which she had started after handing Grievous his bowl.

"Just finish sharpening the sticks. If we have to, I can fly over there and back in raven form. It looks enough like the tickbirds." Akomar looked up and shook his head.

"No, no, they've got warlocks. If they did notice you looked a bit different, than they could easily capture you. And from there, they could probably do some rudimentary form of form-freezing, and I don't know if Grievous or I could break that." Alienea blinked.

"We have not been taught that people can freeze our forms. This is... most distressing, and something I must relay back when this mission is over." Akomar and Grievous looked at Alienea with expressions of mixed amusement and a touch of horror. Grievous spoke up first.

"You-They-What-It's-Idiots-" Akomar started off in a more coherent vein.

"But they-every druid should know that! The Horde certainly wouldn't refrain from using any druids they could freeze against us! How would they not have taught you!" Alienea sighed.

"At the present time I'm not going to go into druid politics. Suffice it to say that Fandarel must be displaced soon." Grievous shook his head.

"Well... Let's get started on making this camp defensible." Alienea and Akomar nodded, and Nesingwary brought in the sticks that still needed sharpening, handing out knives.

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"I never want to sharpen another stick in my life." Akomar and Alienea nodded at Grievous as they surveyed the ring of stakes that now surrounded the camp. Nesingwary chuckled.

"Well, we've got it done and that's what's important, lads and lass." He glanced up at the sun. "We've still got a good few hours, so let's stock in on supplies, and we can see about your cultists tomorrow. I think Jerestin and I could defend this camp now for a full day and night by ourselves. Speaking of Jerestin... OY! HOW ARE YA UP THERE!" Alienea and Grievous winced, covering their sensitive ears. There was a slight rustling in the tree above them, and then Jerestin's face poked out.

"I'm fine, Nesingwary! I can hear and see lots from up here!" He nodded and disappeared back into the tree. Alienea sighed.

"Lovely to know all that work flying him up there wasn't wasted, then. Gah.. Gnomes! Gnomes I can fly around Sholazar, but you dwarves are heavier and stockier. How do you manage to look so small and weigh so much?" Nesingwary chuckled.

"Who knows, lass. Now c'mon you lot, let's teach you poor city people how to hunt! A rhino'll feed us all for a bit!" Grievous and Akomar gulped.

"A.. rhino?..." Akomar gulped. Nesingwary patted him on the back.

"Just a wee baby one, don't worry!" Alienea chuckled.

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"See now, that wasn't so bad, and now you can say you've killed a rhino! Or.. healed people killing a rhino." Grievous and Akomar nodded and sighed. Alienea handed them daggers and set the to skinning the rhino while she cut the chucks of meat off and wrapped them for carrying back to camp. When they'd finished, Nesingwary led them back to the camp.

"Now lads and lass, do ye know how to dry the meat?" Alienea, Grievous, and Akomar shook their heads. "Well, normally tis' a very long process, but I've got a ready-made spell right here for the purpose." Nesingwary dug around in his pack and brought out a small, runed wand and began touching it to the strips of meat that Alienea had cut and divided to dry. When the wand touched them, they dried up and became preserved. "So, you're lucky ducks, eh?" They all nodded, and Akomar began inspecting the runes on the wand.

"Interesting spellwork, easy to recharge. A concentrated, contained firebolt drying it out, and it conjures the spices and all to make it taste good." Nesingwary shrugged.

"It works very well, lad. Now start packing those strips that I've dried!" Akomar, Grievous and Alienea nodded and began to pack up all the meat. Alienea looked up into the trees and squinted.

"Jerestin, you can come down!" There was no answer. "Jerestin!" Alienea went to the base of the tree and called again. "Hey, Jerestin!" She kicked the tree, and Jerestin came down with a thud. "Oh... kittens. Kittens kittens kittens!" Grievous winced.

"Must you swear like that?" Alienea turned around while Akomar and Nesingwary sent puzzled glances at each other.

"He's DEAD! I can swear if I want to!" Alienea morphed into a cat and climbed the tree, sniffing the bark. Grievous ran over to Jerestin and nodded.

"He is dead. I can't bring him back, he's too far gone and I can't afford the reagents for that anyways. I'm sorry, Nesingwary, but I don't think we should leave his body here or bury him with what's going on. Would he've objected to being burned?" Nesingwary sighed.

"No.. I understand, and so would he." Grievous nodded and began casting Holy Fire. When he was done, white flames burst out of Jerestin's body and incinerated him in seconds. Grievous bowed his head and prayed.

"Guys... There's no scent I discern up here. Something vile, though, and I think that it must be demon." Alienea dropped out of the tree and sighed. Grievous nodded and began casting some spell. Alienea sighed and muttered.

"We're all lucky we were gone today, I guess, although we might've been able to hold whatever did this off. But I think tomorrow we've got to go check out the pillars. And if you guys won't, I will." Grievous finished, and a burst of light radiated out to the boundaries of the camp, and then stopped. He turned around and sighed.

"Wards. And yes, tomorrow we must begin." Nesingwary sighed.

"I'll just make meself an escape tunnel, then." He pulled some mining implements out of his pack and began to sharpen them. Akomar smiled grimly.

"Better make it big enough for the big people, Nesingwary." Nesingwary nodded at Akomar and continued his work.

"I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight, lads. I'll take watch and wake on of ye if I have to." Akomar and Grievous nodded, but Alienea sighed.

"I'll stay out here in cat form and sleep near you in case anything happens." Nesingwary nodded, and they all headed to their tents, the ground, or a chair.

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Reading and reviewing is what I thrive on. Do eet now.

Thanks to both reviewers so far!


	5. Chapter 5: Skytouched and Frozen

AN: I don't own anything associated with Blizzard, and I don't own World of Warcraft. I also do not own the idea that kittens is the second-worst swearword in the Night Elf repertoire, with carpet being the worst. Flight form in my little FanFic world can vary in size, with the largest being large enough to transport a gnome, or about ½-9/10ths larger than epic flight form in game. There will be bits of this in Alienea's PoV. Got it? Good!

(Also: I added more to CH. 4)

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Nesingwary, Alienea, Grievous and Akomar all huddled around a small fire, chewing their dried meat and sipping water in the dawn light. When Nesingwary was finished, he slipped down what he had made of the tunnel during the night and closed the door. Alienea eyed the now practically invisible door with some amusement.

"Down the rabbit hole. Dwarves and their caves, holes, tunnels, whatever. When you all are finished, we need to get going." Alienea took a small pack out of her larger one and packed her dagger, some of the dried meat, a few healing and mana potions, a small wooden box with some runes on it that was about 3in" by 3in" and one of the smaller enchanted water skins into it. She slipped it on her back, and turned around. "Tell me when you're ready, guys." Grievous and Akomar nodded, moving to their tents and taking out their gear. Alienea rummaged in her pack one more time and took out a staff the size of a pin, which she hid and attached in her hair. Akomar was the first out of the his tent, with Grievous taking a bit longer to come out of his tent.

"Well, let's get started. You've been there, right, Akomar?" Grievous threw a glance at Akomar and he nodded.

"I can only port people a few times... but yes... I'll place us at the bottom of the pillar. Hold on!" Grievous and Alienea moved to grab Akomar's hands, and a few seconds after they did so, they all winked out of the camp.

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"Ooo.. nauseating..." Alienea stumbled when they appeared in a new section of jungle, but with the Skytouched Pillar reaching up into the sky right next to them. Akomar chuckled.

"It does take some people that way. Grievous, how were you planning on getting up there?" Grievous rubbed his head and looked up at the pillar. "Oh no, you weren't thinking.."

"I've climbed all of them, it's doable." Akomar glared.

"You're a Night Elf! You can reach handholds and all that I can't!" Grievous nodded.

"We do have a druid along." Alienea rolled her eyes and sighed, morphing into a large bird. She moved into a position where her head was bowed, and there was a clear space between the pack and the head where Akomar could sit. "Go on, get on, Akomar. We don't have all day." Muttering and grumbling, Akomar got into position and Alienea shifted a bit, ready to move up. Grievous cast levitate on Akomar, earning a grateful glance from Alienea. "Go on, go on up to the highest flat space you can find below the peak. I'll meet you up there. If you have to, there's vegetation all around the edge and you can use that." Alienea nodded and took off, with Akomar squeezing his eyes shut and holding on as tight as he dared.

"Squawk?" Alienea rolled onto her side, making Akomar fall off onto the small platform she had found. It wasn't large enough for two Night Elves and a gnome, but it was large enough for 1 Night Elf, a Gnome, and a bird, so she staying in birdform.

"Never...never again... Argh, and I will have to do that again." Alienea chuckled and looked over the edge. She made 'Stay here' motions, and then dived off the platform. "What the- Alienea!" Akomar looked over the side and saw her flying down near Grievous and lifting him up a few feet at a time for most of the pillar before having to stop and fly back up and rest. It took Grievous some time to get up to the platform.

"Thanks, Alienea. Oh." He saw that Alienea was curled up in a ball and sleeping. He nudged her awake and thanked her again. "Ready to go to the top?" She nodded and picked up Akomar in her claws, taking him up and depositing him in the shrubbery before going back down and helping Grievous up again. When they were all safely up, she formed back into a Night Elf and smiled.

"Let's see who's out there." Alienea whispered as she peeked through the bushes. She drew back after a few seconds and nodded. "About 5, 6 cultists.. I don't think they're all here yet. Probably waking up and the like." Grievous nodded and whispered back.

"Then let's kill these before more arrive. Could we do it?" Alienea nodded and morphed into a bear. Akomar began to ready spells, and Grievous nodded at Alienea. She charged into the clearing, taking the first three cultists she killed by surprise. One cultist ran apart from the rest and pulled out an engineering device, thumbing the button and calling into it.

"We're under attack! A druid, a mage, and a priest-ARGH!" Akomar sent a frostbolt at him, freezing him with the device still in his hand. Alienea shifted to a cat as Grievous healed whatever wounds the cultists inflicted. They finished killed off the cultists, and then went to check on the frozen one. Alienea morphed back into her night elf form and chipped the device out of his hand.

"They know we're here. Stand and fight or run?" Grievous bit his lip.

"Fight. We can run later. But don't run unless I've cast levitate on you." Alienea and Akomar nodded. Alienea morphed back into a cat, and they all prepared to meet new troops. After a minute, a black glow appeared and formed into a portal which a multitude of cultists streamed through.

"First druid, then priest, then mage! Go! For the Lich King!" One cultist in a green robe began to glow after he gave those orders as he started a warlock spell. The other ranks of cultists streamed at Alienea or surrounded the one casting, who was chanting in demonic.

"Get the warlock!" Grievous screamed as Alienea dodged through the cultists, killing whoever she could and Akomar summoned Blizzards. No one could hear him though, and he soon has problems of his own and a few cultists peeled off and began to attack him. He ran over to Akomar and cast levitate on him. "Run!" Akomar looked up and nodded, running for the edge of the pillar. The cultists shrugged at what they saw a suicidal tendencies and moved to cut off Grievous. The warlock cackled.

"Xpozqlar Wvntls Qvantr!" The glow coalesced on his hands and all the cultists dived out of his way as he shot a beam of absolute black at Alienea. She looked up in startlement just as it hit her, seeming to do nothing. Grievous reached her just after and cast levitate on both of them.

"Run!" Alienea nodded and they both ran to and jumped off the edge of the pillar the Akomar had, quickly falling from sight. The cultists gathered back around the warlock, who nodded in satisfaction.

"So, the Eye of Kilrogg saw truly. And they think to do anything against the might of the Lich King? No matter... The druid shall not long last. They all have so many problems not going to the beast anyways. What will she do if she cannot shift back into her night elf form?... Heh heh heh heh... Come... let us go back to camp..."

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Grievous and Alienea landed back on the ground, but didn't see Akomar. "Argh.. Where could he've gone?" Alienea began sniffing the ground around where they landed. She looked up and tugged Grievous's robe before sniffing again and moving away. "Oh. Scent. Okay, lead on, I follow." Alienea sniffed her way back to the camp, following Akomar's scent. By the time they reached the clearing, it was dusk, and so Alienea just scarfed some of the dry meat before plopping down and going to sleep. "But Akomar isn't here-"

"Yes I am, I just went invisible." Akomar's voice came from near the campfire, and after a few seconds he slowly slid back into focus. "Ugh... that takes so much energy. Glad to see you both made it back okay." Grievous nodded. "Alienea's tired out, and I'm a bit worried about her." Nesingwary's head popped out of his hole in the ground.

"What happened to the lass-" He suddenly keeled over as a bolt of dark energy hit him.

Akomar tracked the energy and sent a frostbolt in it's direction, making something squeal. He went out and brought it back in. "It's just a critter. And yes, I can verify it did that. Not surprising, really. The cultists will have been leaking magic, polluting this thing, and he probably startled the thing, making it discharge the energy. But.." He killed it with a fireball. "Now it can't do anything more." Grievous nodded and went over to heal Nesingwary. After a few good healings and a health potion, he got back up on his feet.

"That was nasty, lad, thanks. As.. as I was saying, what happened to the lass?" Akomar shrugged.

"From what I saw, well, she was the only person in the melee having to dodge and getting hit, etcetera. That would tire anyone out." Grievous nodded.

"Well, after you left, you saw the warlock. He hit her with.. something, no idea what, and then she had to track you all the way back here to make sure you hadn't gotten into any trouble. I'd be tired also. But what I'm worried is about is what the warlock hit her with, whatever it was. It could've just been a curse, which would've worn off by now, It could've been a regular spell, which just would've hurt... but it's like nothing happened, and I can only hope his spell just misfired because he pronounced something wrong." Akomar and Grievous exchanged glances, but Nesingwary didn't notice.

"Well, sounds like she'll be all right. I'll be seeing you in the morning, I'm going to refill the water skins and check on the northern camp." Grievous and Akomar nodded, munched on their dried meat, and crawled into their tents after setting wards.

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_Carpet. Carpet carpet kittens on a carpet carpet! _I tried to shift into a Night Elf again, watching the tents to make sure Grievous and Akomar weren't waking up. Nesingwary had already gone out before I woke up and realized something was wrong. _Maybe another animal form..._ I stretched into a bear, a bird, a cheetah, and briefly a seal before going back into cat as the most practical. _Okay. So, all animal forms, but no Night Elf? Carpet. It must've been that kitten of a warlock. _I heard rustling form inside Grievous's tent and pretended to sleep. A few minutes later, he came out and looked around, noticed me, and frowned. He moved over to Akomar's tent and shook it until Akomar said

"M'awake, gimme a moment." Akomar came out of his tent shortly after that, and noticed that I was still 'sleeping'. "She's still asleep?" Grievous nodded grimly.

"I'm not certain, I don't know how much energy melee takes-" _A lot, really._ "-but she should be awake by now, I think. Even so, I"m certain now the warlock's done something to her. She hasn't formed out of cat form since he hit her with whatever he did. I think she's form-frozen. And I'm not certain I can undo it." Akomar looked grim now, also.

"Don't druids go feral sometimes anyways?..."

"Yes."

"So.. oh, no. I don't want to be out here with a druid that's gone feral." I winced inside. Was I beginning to go? I inspected my mind, and I couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. _But.. it's likely now. I've got to stay on guard for that. And now it's time to wake and see what they're going to do.. _I yawned and stretched.

Grievous looked over towards me. "Alienea! Feeling okay?" I nodded and padded over to them. "Turn into a Night Elf so we can talk?" _Ehhhh, how do I get this across... it should be pretty easy, but you never know._ I shook my head. "Not going to... or can't?" I rolled my eyes. _How am I supposed to differentiate? Let's get that across._

"Because I can't. And I honestly don't expect you to understand this." Grievous looked puzzled. Akomar shrugged, and Grievous sighed.

"I'll take that as an I can't. Oh.." He muttered something under his breath. _Did he say carpet? Heh. And he was annoyed I said kitten._ I snickered, and he jerked his head up. "The warlock must've done something. Well, I think I brought a spellbook of the rarer spells, but I'm certain if that's under Holy, Discipline or what..." He ducked into the tent, leaving Akomar and I outside. Akomar was looking a little bit scared.. I sniffed the air. And he smelled scared also. Understandable, considering he was tiny and I was stuck as a large panther.

"Um. You're not.. going to go feral anytime soon, are you?" I shrugged. "Well, warn us when you do?" _..How am I supposed to do that?..._ I shrugged again. "Maybe he'll find a spell to let us understand you." I shrugged again, fairly certain that there was no such spell. We heard Grievous say

"Aha!" And stumble out of his tent. "I think I found the right book!" Akomar sighed.

"Is there a spell that would allow us to talk?" He looked up.

"Eh, no, not that wouldn't be incredibly intrusive and I would use. Sorry. Anyways, I think I found the book that would unfreeze people. You see, the druids shifting is a sort of... well, it relates to the elementals, and there's a spell in here to freeze and thaw elementals, and I think I can adapt it. So!" I blinked. This sounded complicated. _So, wonderful. I wonder if they would understand or freak out if I went to get a drink from the river.. eh, they'll have to deal._ Akomar began to argue with Grievous about the need to be able to effectively communicate with me as I snuck off to go to the river.


End file.
